Microsoft’s Bing search engine is still No. 3 in the U.S. search market, but not by much. The Redmond company came in at an even 15 percent of the market in November, just below the 15.1 percent posted by Yahoo for the month, according to the latest data compiled by the comScore Networks research firm

In fact, Microsoft is the only major U.S. search engine to grow its share of the U.S. market over the past year, rising from less than 12 percent a year ago, according to comScore research released at the time.

Of course, Google remains the king of the market, with more than 65 percent in the latest comScore numbers, down a mere percentage point from the same point a year ago.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s partner in the search market, Yahoo, has fallen from its position of 16.4 percent a year ago, making the overall gain in their combined market share more modest, at 30.1 percent in November, up from 28.2 percent a year earlier.

The other down side for Microsoft is that the company continues to spend far more on its search initiatives than it makes, as reflected in the ongoing losses reported by its Online Services Division. However, those losses are narrowing, coming in at $494 million in the latest quarter, compared with $558 million a year earlier.

Bottom line, it should be very interesting to see where all of these numbers are a year from now.

Comments

Guest

Congratulations to Microsoft for continuing to realize gains! Some may scoff at the continuing disparity, but those same some should look at the cocky sign Netscape once put on their lawn: “Netscape 72[%], Microsoft 18″ in defiance of Internet Explorer.* Netscape is long gone and even its open-source descendant Firefox is losing ground to corporate invaders on its turf. So too shall Google, the cocky 800-pound gorilla of search, see real competition.

That MS is gone. In its place is a slow moving, uncompetitive, over the hill oaf that has been left behind by Google, Apple, and a small army of new more nimble competitors. Google isn’t losing sleep over Bing. It’s what they would have chosen for a competitor: ineffectual, money losing, but backed by a big enough company that they can claim its competition everytime the DOJ threatens an inquiry.

$8 billion lost over the last five years and US share at less than where they started, despite the recent gains. And outside the US the story is even worse, with Google averaging 90% share in most regions except China.

Years after the Yahoo deal, MS still hasn’t been able to bring its RPS up to what Yahoo enjoyed under Panama. And Bing, which was innovating with some pace for a while, has now gone mostly dark again.

Another in a long series of failed, value destroying exercises brought to you by the worst CEO in technology: Steve Ballmer.

Anonymous

You are the stupidest person I ever heard of. Just reply to your comment makes me dumb as you can see.

Guest

Coming from a tool who thinks “Android is dead”.

Guest

You’re spot on. Only in the US and under Ballmer’s watch can a department continue to lose an incredible amount every year without a plan to EVER become profitable.

Maheshp

The search share does not count verticals such as map, local, etc. and this makes Bing look a bit better. Tell me which one you will use, say, to search a restaurant, G, B or Y?

Guest

Amazon was unprofitable for the first eight full years of its operation. A lot of men were as negative about it as you seem to be about Bing. Yet today Amazon is so powerful and so profitable that those same negative men want to destroy it.

I, for one, support Microsoft and its Big Hairy Audacious Goal of out-googling Google.

Guest

Amazon is run by a visionary entrepreneur. MS is run by a visionary entrepreneur’s college dorm buddy.

Guest

Amazon also didn’t have a competitor, such as Google, that already had the majority of the market share. Listen to me now, there’s no way Bing will EVER out do Google. Not a chance in hell. Every year there’s a new plan, new version, new acquisition, when it’s all just more BS to add to a decade of more BS.